Virtual Nothing
by notfluorolimeatall
Summary: "The mirror I hold in my hand shatters into pixels, and I fall to my knees laughing. Nobody notices- they're all too busy freaking out. All that mattered was that I was going to fulfil my lifelong dream- to live- and die- in a videogame."
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Finally the clock ticks to 11:59AM. It's Wednesday today. A normal day, at least it would be under any other circumstances, but today is November 16th 2022 the much-anticipated official launch date of Sword Art Online. I faked a sickie just for this purpose, because Sword Art Online, or SAO among gamers, is the first Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game. Me? Of course I'm excited! I grew up playing Pokémon, a great RPG. My parents grew up on Pac-Man, but this, this is indescribable. It's a great moment for gaming history.

My finger taps the NerveGear impatiently, getting faster every second. My parents understand I am gaming, so they won't disturb me until dinner. Finally, as if I couldn't remember, every electronic device in my room announces to me that it is 12:00PM, the launch of SAO.

I take a deep breath, and plunge the NerveGear over my head. "Link Start!" I'm in a different world as colours plunge around me. I sign in and customize my avatar with shaking hands. Blonde, I think. I always wanted to be a blonde guy magnet.

Eventually my avatar is created, and I see Aincrad for the first time. Its beautiful. The sky is blue, the graphics are crisp, and I can see nobody lagging. So far so good. I walk around, taking in the sights around me. Everyone seems to have had good taste with creating their avatars- they all look as nice as the city.

"Excuse me?" someone taps my shoulder.

"Hello?" I ask turning around. It's a girl with down-to-the-floor light brown pigtails. She smiles cheerfully.

"Would you mind training with me?"

"Sure. My name's Shina." I smile back.

"My name's Silica."

OOOO

After a few hours spent levelling up to level 5, I realize with a start that I would have to leave my new friend Silica because my mom would be making dinner.

"Silica, I have to go. Sorry about leaving you." I scratch the back of my neck sheepishly.

"Its ok." She smiles. She seems to do that a lot. I wave my hand for the menu to materialize. Scrolling down, I realize that the logout button was missing. Must be a bug, I think to myself. I close the menu and reopen it. Nope, logout button still gone. My stomach drops.

"Everything ok?" Silica asks. I must have a weird expression on my face.

"The logout button's missing." I close my menu and look at her as she opens her menu.

"It's gone on mine too." Silica looks worried, about as worried as I feel. I shake my head, the feelings of doubt and worry going to the back of my mind. I open my menu for the third time in those few minutes and the button is still gone. My eyes widen and I bite my lip. It has to be a bug. Maybe there are just too many people logging off at once and the server can't handle it? But as I think these things a voice in the back of my mind tells me that if the have the data to house a game like this with no lag, they should have enough data for everyone to log out simultaneously.

I look at Silica to see her tapping away furiously at her menu. "What're you doing?" I ask.

"Sending a message to the Gamemasters." She replies, not looking up. Of course! I mentally face-palm. Why didn't I think of that? If anyone could fix a glitch or a bug, it would be the Gamemasters, the creators of this game. At soon as Silica finishes typing her message a bright blue light surrounds us. I hear Silica cry out in shock, and it takes all of my willpower not to do the same. I squeeze my eyes shut as the sense of solidness I had ebbs away as the blue light grows stronger.

When I feel better, I open my eyes. It appears that we, along with everyone else playing, have been forcefully teleported to the town centre. The once blue sky has is now smothered with red hexagons and words in a different language that looks like English. I try to translate them, but as I do so, the sky began bleeding from in between the many hexagons. I, and many other players, gasp in shock and horror.

Slowly, the mysterious blood forms the shape of a man wearing robes, but on closer investigation, I discover that underneath the robes is nothing.

"It's a Gamemaster!" I hear someone say. Almost immediately everyone begins talking.

"Attention Players!" says the Gamemaster. Everyone, including me, is silenced. "Welcome to my world. My name is Kayaba Akihiko, and as of this moment, I am the sole person who can control this world. I'm sure you've already noticed that the logout button is missing from the main menu." I sigh in relief. Kayaba Akihiko himself, the creator of SAO, has obviously come to personally apologize for the logout button disappearance.

He continues on. "This is not a defect in the game, I repeat, this is not a defect. It is a feature of Sword Art Online. You cannot logout of SAO yourselves, and no one outside can shut down or remove the NerveGear." Any high opinions I had of Kayaba were instantly shattered. I hear sobs, and glance at Silica. She isn't the one crying, but her eyes are like saucers.

"Should this be attempted, the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit a powerful microwave, destroying your brain and thus ending your life. Unfortunately, several players' friends and families have ignored this warning, and attempted to remove the NerveGear. As a result, two hundred and thirteen players are gone forever from both Aincrad and the real world." He pauses and brings up large holograms of some reputable news sites around the world.

"As you can see, News Organizations across the world are reporting all of this, including the deaths. Thus you can assume the danger of a NerveGear being removed is now minimal." He closes the tabs with one swift hand gesture.

"I hope you will relax and attempt to clear the game, but I want you to remember this clearly. There is no longer any method to revive someone in the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be forever lost, and simultaneously, the NerveGear will destroy your brain. There is only one means of escape, to complete the game. You are presently on the lowest floor of Aincrad, Floor 1. If you make it through the dungeon and defeat the floor boss, then you may advance to the next level. Defeat the boss on Floor 100 and you will clear the game.

"Finally, I have added a present from me in your item storage. Please see for yourselves." The entity of Kayaba melts away into the 'blood' once again, and nine thousand, seven hundred and eighty-seven menus are brought up. I check my item storage, as Kayaba told us all too. Could it be a useful sword?

What deformed hopes I have fade away when I see that the mystery item was just a simple hand mirror. I copy everyone else and hold it in my hand. For a split second, it shows my in-game avatar that I had created at 12:00PM today. Then the reflection morphs into my disappointing real-life appearance. I am now a skinny girl with bangs and long curls down to her waist. I have hair in a boring shade of brown, and eyes to match.

I look at Silica. Her appearance also changed drastically from her avatar, but the shocked expression is the same. She has light brown hair in pigtails, with reddish-brown eyes. She looks now about 11 or 12. But although her appearance has changed, her feelings haven't.

Before my eyes she begins freaking out. Hyperventilating, even. She screams and tries to run away, but is stopped by someone's newly large stomach. She is the one that triggers the full-on panic.

The mirror I hold in my hand shatters into pixels, and I fall to my knees laughing. Nobody notices. They're all too busy freaking out. All that mattered was that I was going to fulfil my lifelong dream- to live- and die- in a videogame.

* * *

><p>AN Thanks to Xakyrie's awesome constructive criticism review, the next 3 chapters have been fixed.

Madoka Magica wasn't nominated for an Oscar :(


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It's been two weeks since we were all trapped in this death game called SAO, and at least a thousand innocent people have died.

I have been training hard, partly because I'm not going to join the ranks of the dead just yet, but also because I want to protect Silica. She's too freaked out to be training with me at the moment. I think she's at least two years younger than me, so it's understandable why she's frightened. Heck, I am too, but for Silica's sake I have to be mature about this. I don't know why, I just have this urge to take care of her.

I'm already level 8, and most of my equipment has been upgraded. I've decided to go with a basic one-handed sword accompanied by a small and light shield. Its what I feel will be best for me.

The quest for finding the first boss room has been unsuccessful so far. Everyone is in a panic-induced frenzy, and the Town of Beginnings is packed. Some people are questioning if this game is even beatable. I'm not sure what I believe.

Silica and I are sitting on a bench just outside the inn where we have currently spent every night.

"Hey Silica," I begin slowly so as not to put any pressure on her. "Can we move to the next village? This inn is one of the more expensive ones, and we're only in here because everywhere else is full." She looks at me with a terrified expression, and I feel guilty for having to do this to her. "Anyway, my point is that this in is too expensive for us to keep staying in every night. It's taking all of my Col from monster farming that is supposed to be used to buy equipment.

"W-Where should we go?" I can tell she's trying to be brave, but her façade quickly wears thin.

"I reckon by the river. Any other paths will be as crammed as Tokyo during rush-hour." Mentally I cringe at the thought that I might never see Tokyo, or anywhere else in the real world for that matter, again.

I close my menu and stand up, feeling the pixels that have become my body stretch and move. Silica follows suit, and we stock up on items, and set off.

OOOO

I see the giant dog before Silica does. "Silica! Watch out!" I yell. But she doesn't react in time. It hits her with a powerful forepaw, and she is launched onto the ground a couple of metres away. Her HP is dangerously in the red. As much as I want to, I can't help her yet, as the monster is targeting me now.

It's running towards me on all four legs. For a split-second I am frozen in fear. Is today the day I am going to die? "No." I chastise myself firmly under my breath. "I am going to defeat this monster."

I sprint around to behind the huge grey beast where it can't hit me. As if on it's own accord, my sword begins to light up as I perform the one-handed Sword Skill known as Sonic Leap. I glance at the dog's HP bar. I barely dented it. All of my hopes are lost, and I lower my shield and let myself be hit. Someone screams, but I've got to die sometime, right?

I shut my eyes, trying to drown out the noise, and it only seems like seconds before someone is shaking me and force-feeding me liquid. Can't they just let me sleep? I think agitatedly. I open one eye to see who is irritating me. It's Silica. She looks worried. Why is she worried? Then I remember what happened. I was knocked out by a massive dog monster, and probably escaped my HP completely depleting by the skin of my teeth.

"Oh good. You're awake." Silica is relieved.

"What happened?" I have regained most of my senses; thanks to the Potion she gave me.

"We were attacked by a dog monster, and you tried to attack it while I was healing. But then it hit you, and I think I screamed. "

I sit up. "C'mon Silica. We need to go. It'll be night soon, and we've already lost a lot of time." One look at Silica tells me she's thinking otherwise.

"Uh, actually I was thinking that maybe I shouldn't go with you." All of my instincts are screaming objections, but I know I can't control her.

I stand up. "Silica, if you were scared to go, you should have just told me." I smile at her. "I hope we meet again sometime."

"Wait!" We both turn to look at five sweaty teenage boys. "Don't we get appreciation? We did defeat Cerberus." That must have been the huge dog thing. But didn't Cerberus have more than one head? Never mind.

"Sure. What do you want?" I open my menu, preparing to pay them.

"Silica." We both sputter in shock and I'm secretly glad neither of us had any Potion left in our mouths.

"What?" we both exclaim. The one who has been talking steps forward.

"We are the Silica Fan Club Guild, or SFCG. We want our prize."

"Walk her to the inn where she stays. You will pay her three hundred Col for the night at the inn, and if any of you are indecent, me personally and my Beta tester friends will be on your case like fire on oil." I unsheathe my sword to prove a point. Silica looks at me. I can't tell what she's thinking, but I personally am laughing my head off internally.

"Heavens no! we'd never do anything to our angel! She's an idol! We would protect her with our lives!" Are these guys for real?

"Then give me the last attack bonus."

"Why? It's ours."

"I got the empty bottle she just used!"

They are practically falling over themselves to send it to me. Its called Shadow Sword. "Thank you." I leave.

* * *

><p>AN Gun Gale Online anime is coming out this year! Sinon looks epic.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2

It's been two weeks since we were all trapped in this death game called SAO, and at least a thousand innocent people have died.

I have been training hard, partly because I'm not going to join the ranks of the dead just yet, but also because I want to protect Silica. She's too freaked out to be training with me at the moment. I think she's at least two years younger than me, so it's understandable why she's frightened. Heck, I am too, but for Silica's sake I have to be mature about this. I don't know why, I just have this urge to take care of her.

I'm already level 8, and most of my equipment has been upgraded. I've decided to go with a basic one-handed sword accompanied by a small and light shield. Its what I feel will be best for me.

The quest for finding the first boss room has been unsuccessful so far. Everyone is in a panic-induced frenzy, and the Town of Beginnings is packed. Some people are questioning if this game is even beatable. I'm not sure what I believe.

Silica and I are sitting on a bench just outside the inn where we have currently spent every night.

"Hey Silica," I begin slowly so as not to put any pressure on her. "Can we move to the next village? This inn is one of the more expensive ones, and we're only in here because everywhere else is full." She looks at me with a terrified expression, and I feel guilty for having to do this to her. "Anyway, my point is that this in is too expensive for us to keep staying in every night. It's taking all of my Col from monster farming that is supposed to be used to buy equipment.

"W-Where should we go?" I can tell she's trying to be brave, but her façade quickly wears thin.

"I reckon by the river. Any other paths will be as crammed as Tokyo during rush-hour." Mentally I cringe at the thought that I might never see Tokyo, or anywhere else in the real world for that matter, again.

I close my menu and stand up, feeling the pixels that have become my body stretch and move. Silica follows suit, and we stock up on items, and set off.

OOOO

I see the giant dog before Silica does. "Silica! Watch out!" I yell. But she doesn't react in time. It hits her with a powerful forepaw, and she is launched onto the ground a couple of metres away. Her HP is dangerously in the red. As much as I want to, I can't help her yet, as the monster is targeting me now.

It's running towards me on all four legs. For a split-second I am frozen in fear. Is today the day I am going to die? "No." I chastise myself firmly under my breath. "I am going to defeat this monster."

I sprint around to behind the huge grey beast where it can't hit me. As if on it's own accord, my sword begins to light up as I perform the one-handed Sword Skill known as Sonic Leap. I glance at the dog's HP bar. I barely dented it. All of my hopes are lost, and I lower my shield and let myself be hit. Someone screams, but I've got to die sometime, right?

I shut my eyes, trying to drown out the noise, and it only seems like seconds before someone is shaking me and force-feeding me liquid. Can't they just let me sleep? I think agitatedly. I open one eye to see who is irritating me. It's Silica. She looks worried. Why is she worried? Then I remember what happened. I was knocked out by a massive dog monster, and probably escaped my HP completely depleting by the skin of my teeth.

"Oh good. You're awake." Silica is relieved.

"What happened?" I have regained most of my senses; thanks to the Potion she gave me.

"We were attacked by a dog monster, and you tried to attack it while I was healing. But then it hit you, and I think I screamed. "

I sit up. "C'mon Silica. We need to go. It'll be night soon, and we've already lost a lot of time." One look at Silica tells me she's thinking otherwise.

"Uh, actually I was thinking that maybe I shouldn't go with you." All of my instincts are screaming objections, but I know I can't control her.

I stand up. "Silica, if you were scared to go, you should have just told me." I smile at her. "I hope we meet again sometime."

"Wait!" We both turn to look at five sweaty teenage boys. "Don't we get appreciation? We did defeat Cerberus." That must have been the huge dog thing. But didn't Cerberus have more than one head? Never mind.

"Sure. What do you want?" I open my menu, preparing to pay them.

"Silica." We both sputter in shock and I'm secretly glad neither of us had any Potion left in our mouths.

"What?" we both exclaim. The one who has been talking steps forward.

"We are the Silica Fan Club Guild, or SFCG. We want our prize."

"Walk her to the inn where she stays. You will pay her three hundred Col for the night at the inn, and if any of you are indecent, me personally and my Beta tester friends will be on your case like fire on oil." I unsheathe my sword to prove a point. Silica looks at me. I can't tell what she's thinking, but I personally am laughing my head off internally.

"Heavens no! we'd never do anything to our angel! She's an idol! We would protect her with our lives!" Are these guys for real?

"Then give me the last attack bonus."

"Why? It's ours."

"I got the empty bottle she just used!"

They are practically falling over themselves to send it to me. Its called Shadow Sword. "Thank you." I leave.

* * *

><p>AN Gun Gale Online anime is coming out this year! Sinon looks epic.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

We are all nervous as we stand outside that massive door. How many of us will die? Who will die? What will the boss' difficulty be? I want to run away screaming, but I know I can't.

I'm glad Silica isn't here with me. I know for a fact she would die straight away, and I would prefer her to live through all one hundred floors. I have figured out why I am so protective of her. She reminds me of my best friend back in real life.

"Listen up everybody! I have one thing to say- let's win this!" Diavel's motivational speech inspires no one to cheer, but the blind fog of determination settles over us instead. Someone pushes the Boss Room door open, and we walk cautiously inside. Within mere seconds, the room inside becomes awash with bright colours. Despite its pastel appearance, it's terrifying.

Illfang the Kobold Lord jumps down heavily from wherever he was hiding. He is massive, and he has a dog's head. His appearance is actually quite comical, but no one laughs because the weapon he is holding looks like it could kill someone unfortunate enough with one accurate blow.

His minions, the Ruin Kobold Sentinels, spawn, and we know the fight has officially begun. No turning back now. "Commence attack!" Diavel shouts at the top of his virtual lungs, his sword in the air. All our battle cries synchronize as one.

Groups A and C are fiercely attacking Illfang from the front, bravely dodging his axe. Our group, Group D, is aggressively confronting the first wave of Sentinels along with Group E.

I activate the basic Sword Skill 'Horizontal' and slash the Sentinel across the stomach. It retaliates almost instantly, and I barely have enough time to block its menacingly sharp sword with my shield.

Tomi notices my struggle and comes over to help me, his rapier glowing orange. He uses a basic rapier Sword Skill called 'Linear'. The quick thrust into the Sentinel's side is enough for one-quarter of its HP to now be empty.

From where I am standing, I can't see Asachi, Lorn or Kitor. I hope they're doing okay- these Sentinels are much quicker than we previously thought they'd be.

The three Sentinels are dressed in silver knight-like armour that makes it hard to do decent amounts of damage with our strikes. I can already feel in my pixelated bones that this is going to be a long fight.

"Group D! Change targets and engage Illfang!" I can barely hear Diavel's commands over the noise, but our group of five seems to have all heard correctly.

Illfang's second HP bar has been depleted. I can see Group F, the cloaked person and the dark-haired boy, joining us in the assault against Illfang's third HP bar. I sprint around to behind Illfang, where he can't hit me. With a slight pang, I remember how I did this to protect Silica and I, only to lose badly- I lost nearly all of my HP that day, and my only friend in this death-game couldn't handle it. I'm much stronger now, so I won't let that happen again.

While Illfang is occupied with attacking the Players in front of him, I activate Sword Skill after Sword Skill. Then the massive boss turns around- he's spotted me with his beady little eyes. His massive axe raises and clangs down on my shield with such force that I'm winded. If I hadn't of had a shield, I would be dead now. I shrug off the blow and the dark thought; ignoring the fact that my HP has crept into the red zone. If I'm going to die, I'll die fighting.

I activate Sword Skills repeatedly again, like everyone else seems to be doing. Thankfully Illfang is focusing on someone else.

"Groups D and F! Retreat!"

"Diavel, this wasn't in the plan!" someone shouts. As we run away confusedly, Diavel's group arranges itself in a circle. Once I'm a reasonably safe distance away from all Monsters, I look at the Boss. His last HP bar is in the red, and like the guidebook says, he switches his weapon by dramatically throwing his axe and shield away and pulling out his other weapon.

"That's not a Talwar! That's a Nodachi!" Tomi yells.

"What's the difference!" Tomi must have overheard me, because he adds:

"One's a katana." He has a grave expression. What's the big deal about a katana?

Diavel's group charge the Boss, who has already switched his weapon. But all the bystanders can see Illfang is charging a Sword Skill. Diavel sprints forward, clearly planning to attack Illfang.

"Its no good! Jump back as quick as you can!" a male voice yells. I don't recognize it.

With one circular swing all of Diavel's party have been stunned.

We all watch in horrified fascination as the Boss goes straight for Diavel and exclusively targets him with a 4-hit-combo Sword Skill. The blue knight lands quite a distance away. I see Tomi run over to him, obviously offering him aid.

"Tomi!" I run over to him, but quickly turn around with embarrassment despite the situation when I discover that the boy with Diavel isn't Tomi. I don't think anyone noticed.

I can see the boy offering Diavel a potion, but the knight refuses it. I can tell they're talking, but I'm not within earshot. The boy stands up shakily as Diavel disintegrates into pixels. He's clearly dead. The feeling of loss sweeps through everyone, but it is short-lived.

Illfang roars, as if reminding us he's still here. The red-cloaked person I saw at the meeting stands next to him. They pause briefly, and they begin running.

"We'll do it just like the Sentinels!" I hear the boy shout. Everyone- except the Groups fighting the newly respawned fourth wave of Sentinels of course- is watching.

Illfang's Nodachi glows with a blinding white light. He's obviously preparing another attack. The boy's sword glows blue, and as Illfang swings down, he swings up, temporarily stunning Illfang.

The cloaked person runs up, their rapier ready with a sword skill. Illfang recovers far too quickly however.

"Asuna!" the boy yells. The Boss' Nodachi comes crashing down like a hurricane on the person apparently called Asuna, but by some fluke, they dodge. The Japanese weapon only gets caught on their cloak, and the cloak's durability is exhausted.

Everyone in the room is mesmerised. Asuna's a girl, and she's probably older than me. She has long strawberry-blonde hair flowing out behind her, and from what I can see; some of it is braided halfway around her head. The green pixels are all that remains of her cloak, and they give her a kind of surreal appearance.

"That is who I am going to look up to." I say to myself as we all watch Asuna and the boy's teamwork. It looks like a dance, a beautiful dance, but it is ended too quickly by Illfang's weapon slashing across the boy's stomach. He is thrown back, and Asuna is knocked over by his weight landing on top of her. The clang of a sword landing on the ground is obvious.

They both look up like startled rabbits when the Boss raises his glowing red Nodachi for the finishing blow. Asuna feebly raises her rapier as a last line of defence. The sword comes crashing down, and then…

Agil's mighty axe knocks the Nodachi out of its path. The Boss is stunned momentarily, but its gets its bearings quickly by sliding backwards on all fours.

"Let's go!" someone cries valiantly." Half of the groups move to engage Illfang again, but our group fights the Sentinels instead. Sword Skill after Sword Skill, and two out of three Sentinels have died. I'm proud to say I killed one of the last.

The third Sentinel dies soon after its brothers, and we are free to watch the Boss once again. Illfang's Nodachi repeats the same circular movement as before, when he stunned Diavel and his party.

Agil's party is stunned. Illfang jumps up at least one hundred metres into the air- the ceiling of the Boss Room was higher than I thought. He does a series of complicated movements, and his Nodachi glows purple.

"Watch out!" yells the boy who was fighting with Asuna. His sword glows light blue, and just as Illfang leaps down, the boy swings the Boss' oversized Nodachi off course. "I've got you first!"

The boy lands in a somersault and keeps running. "Asuna! Let's finish it together!"

"Roger!" The pair runs up together, and its like they're flying. The weapons all glow various colours as Sword Skill after Sword Skill are released.

The boy lets out an animal-like scream, and the boss is dead.

Everyone is speechless. "We- we did it!" someone shouts as the giant 'Congratulations' comes up, and everyone is celebrating. I look around for my party members, and I am practically assaulted with happiness by Kitor, Tomi, Lorn, and Asachi simultaneously.

"We really did it." I breathe as Asachi squeezes the life out of me. Suddenly, we were all clapping, probably for the dark-haired boy.

"Why…why did you let Diavel die?" Kibaou's voice turns us all into silent stone statues.

"Let him die?" someone said.

"That's right! You knew the techniques the Boss used! If you gave us that information from the get-go, Diavel wouldn't have died!" murmurs pass through our group. Kibaou continues, "He must've been a Beta tester! That's how he knew all the attack patterns. He knew, but he didn't tell us?"

"There are other Beta testers here, right?"

"Show yourselves!" I don't have to look at Tomi to know he's worried. No one steps forward.

Asuna and Agil try to negotiate with Kibaou, but he isn't listening.

The boy starts laughing. "A Beta tester, you say? I'd rather you not compare me with those newbies."

"W-what?" Kibaou's voice falters, most likely because of rage. My opinion of the boy sharply drops. How dare he? Someone just died, and he's talking about how great he is?

"Most of the thousand SAO Beta testers were beginners who didn't even know how to level up. You guys are better than they are." He begins walking away. "But I'm not like them," He continues. "I made it further up than anyone else during the Beta test." Way to dig yourself into a big hole. "I only knew about the Boss' katana Skills because I fought katana-wielding monsters on floors far above here. I know a lot more than that, way more than any information broker."

"W-what? That's way worse than a Beta tester!"

"You're cheating! You're a cheater!" Chants were sounding, but our party is quiet.

"A Beta and a cheater…"

"He's a Beater!"

"Beater… I like the sound of that. That's right. I'm a Beater. From now on, don't put me with other testers." A long black coat appears on him, and I'm guessing that was the Monster Drop. He walks to the exit, but I see Asuna catching up to him and saying something I can't hear. Then he leaves the Boss room.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N **

**I'm so sorry about being late. High school is a bitch. I will try and be more frequent with updates. I promise, nothing like this will happen again.**

**Chapter 5**

We sit on the stairs in the Colosseum, eating. The bread is bland by itself, but Lorn got cream from somewhere, so the taste is improved for now.

"That guy was an asshole." Kitor startles us with his bold claim.

"I agree." Tomi? I thought he stayed out of this sort of conflict.

"Guys," I try to defuse them. "He wasn't THAT bad. I mean, he did win us the Boss Battle."

"I agree with the chick." Someone plonks herself down next to me. A quick glance reveals her shocking red hair and blue eyes. "He did it in style too."

"Who are you?" I ask, narrowing my eyes. She should have at least given some warning.

"Yuki. What about you?" she doesn't return my glare.

"I'm Asachi, this is Lorn, Tomi, Kitor, and Shina." He points to each of us in turn. I glance at Kitor. He's mirroring my glare. What if we didn't want to tell her our names? I'm suspicious of her. Why did she suddenly just join us?

"I'm feeling the warmth, guys." Yuki jokes, but we don't laugh.

"Guys! Be nice! Yuki's not hurting us, so there's no reason to stare at her like she's a murderer!" Asachi is indignant. We all visibly relax, but I see something in Yuki's face. An expression flickers for a millisecond, and then it is gone. What was that? I mentally shake my head. Asachi's right. She's just a normal Player, like us. But why do I still feel suspicious?

"Do you want to join our party, Yuki?" Lorn asks, smiling.

"You have five people, and you're still only a party?" Yuki's eyebrows rise sceptically.

"Yeah, what's the problem?" I don't see anything wrong with being in a party since the Boss Battle.

"You guys should form a Guild. Its much better than being in a party because you can share winnings and stuff." The way Yuki explains it; it doesn't sound that bad being in a Guild.

"I'll make one now." Tomi opens his menu. We see him tap the screen that is invisible to us. "What should our name be?"

There is silence. We hadn't given any thought to this. Hell, we were just listening to what some random girl had to say!

"What about… Dragon's Fate?" Lorn pipes up. I actually like that name.

Tomi looks around for our acceptance of the name. When he receives it, he types it in. Almost immediately, I receive an invite.

"So, now that we're a Guild, what do we do now?" I ask. We must've completed most of the Quests around this area multiple times by now.

"We should go explore the 2nd Floor of Aincrad."

"But that's uncharted territory! We could be killed!" Lorn's voice becomes slightly higher.

"Someone has to do it." Yuki says. I glare at her again. She isn't supposed to still be here. In response, she smirks at me. "If you want, Shina, I'll join your little reverse harem you have going on."

Despite myself, I blush slightly. I curse myself. "That's up to my Guild Leader to decide." I try to inject as much venom as possible into my words, but I doubt I sounded threatening.

"I think it would be a great idea for Yuki to join us. Strength in numbers, right?" I want to slap Tomi for his innocent words, but I don't understand why Yuki is getting to me so much.

"I have… stuff to do." I stand up and storm off from my Guild. Why am I doing this? I hear someone call me, but I don't look back.

**OOOO**

I sarcastically praise myself for opting out of exploring the 2nd Floor. Even with Yuki, it would be a lot more interesting and fun than what I'm doing now. I've been wandering the Town of Beginnings for an hour now, and, despite its size, there's no variety in the scenery. I would go and train by myself, but I can't bring myself to. Our Guild's fighting style is very intertwined. We all rely on each other. If I were to fight alone, I would lack back up and probably leave myself open to all kinds of attacks.I sit down on a bench and begin to daydream.

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?" I don't even bother looking up.

"It depends who's asking." I feel him sit down next to me anyway.

"My name is Phoenix and-"

"Objection!" I laugh out loud for the first time since I left my Guild. Obviously he gets the reference, because he is smiling too. "I'm Shina." The joke has put me in a happier mood.

"You seem nicer when you smile. Well, I was wondering if you wanted to train with me? I've seen you around town for an hour or so, and you seem really bored."

"Sure." Maybe this could be fun.

**OOOO**

As I watch Phoenix take down yet another monster, something stirs inside of me. I begin smiling. He smiles back, and I feel my cheeks burn slightly. I chide myself. Its probably only because of his looks that I'm feeling like this. I mean, what's not to like about wavy blond hair and those stunning blue eyes? I've only known him for a few hours.

"Shina?"

"Hmm?"

"The sun's setting. We should head back."

I nod, but I feel sad that this day will come to an end.

"I'll take you out for dinner. My treat because I had such a fun time with you." I blush furiously.

"Y-you don't have to do that!" Curse these teenage girl emotions!

**OOOO**

Dinner was amazing. Phoenix insisted that we eat at an expensive restaurant that my Guild would never be able to afford on our own.

He took my hand as we walked back to the inn I was staying at. Faintly, I heard someone call my name, but that didn't matter.

"We should hang out again sometime." I say quietly.

"Yeah. We should." Then all of a sudden I am pulled into a hug. Phoenix kisses my cheek, and we break apart. He then leaves, and doesn't look back. I fall to my knees in shock. My cheeks are burning. Someone like him, with someone like me? It's impossible.

"Well I guess it turned out okay for you then didn't it?" the venom in Tomi's words is unmistakable.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

I sit there gawping at Tomi. "What?"

"Well, you seem to have returned from your sulk session all in one piece, and with another guy under your arm to boot!"

I avoid his gaze as I stand up. "Well, what about Yuki then? You spent the whole day with her!" I'm surprised by my tone of voice, and I think Tomi is too. How did those words turn out so vicious? I couldn't be jealous, could I?

"Well, if that's how you feel, then I don't see why you should be in our Guild. I'm sure Yuki will be a better Guildmate than you'll ever be." And just like that Tomi opens his inventory and kicks me from Dragon's Fate.

I've made a mistake. I open my mouth to plead, but he's already walking away. Finally I say something. "I'm the best fighter in our Guild and you know it!" Tomi keeps walking.

When he's out of sight, I turn and walk into the inn. The NPC behind the counter stares me down blankly. I ignore her and go to my pre-booked room, just down the hall from where my ex-Guildmates are staying.

I close the door, and then the tears come. They aren't tears of sorrow, they're of frustration.

**OOOO**

I swirl the contents of my cup around for what feels like the fiftieth time. I'm in a café somewhere. I can't bring myself to go train, and I don't want to bother Phoenix or Silica.

"You know, I wouldn't let someone like that join my Guild, if I were you." I can't help but hear a snippet of conversation from the strangers on the next table over.

"Why?"

"Well, apparently they join your Guild, act all trustworthy, like they train with you and everything, and then they take you to a secluded spot where they 'love to train', and they lead you right into an ambush."

"So that's how they stay green?"

"Yup."

"But which kind of Guilds do they target?"

"They target any Guild that's been having a good run lately."

"But why?"

"Some say they want to be the most powerful Guild. Others say that they don't want to leave this game. Most say they do it because they want items."

"What psychos. Do they have a Guild name?"

"I don't know sorry. Its just a rumour."

I've heard enough. I leave my half-full cup on the table, and leave the café.

**OOOO**

I pace my room agitatedly. Yuki is most likely one of those mystery killers. What should I do?

I finally sit down on the bed and type out a message.

**OOOO**

"So, I'm here for our date?" Phoenix says playfully as he sits down across the table. We agreed to meet in the café nearby the inn I'm staying in.

My cheeks flush involuntarily. "Shut up. I have to talk to you about something serious." When he looks like he's paying attention, I tell him

what I heard earlier and how I think my friends are in danger.

"I think I have a good idea where your friends are." He says. A weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. Maybe we can save them before Yuki gets to them.

**OOOO**

"Shina!" Phoenix beckons me over to something he's found. We decided to go with Phoenix's gut feeling and go to a nearby forest. He's right. It does seem like a place where you'd be alone and vulnerable.

I crouch next to him to get a better look. On the ground is an empty bottle that must have contained a Potion. "Do you think we're getting closer to them?"

He nods and we straighten up. "Well, lets keep moving."

We walk a short distance, and we're in a clearing. Something doesn't feel right, so I brandish my sword and shield. "You don't need to do that, Shina." Phoenix's voice has changed, and he's making his way towards me.

"Phoenix? What's wrong?" Something swipes at my back. My HP Bar goes down by a chunk. I whip around. Standing behind me is a Player with an orange cursor. Players with orange cursors are the murderers of SAO.

"Oh shit." I mutter under my breath. I see him preparing to strike again, and I ready my shield to block.

**A/N Sorry for the short chapter guys. What do you think? Would you like to see shorter chapters? What would you rate this chapter out of ten?**


End file.
